New car sales grow for 27 months in a row

The Vauxhall Corsa was Scotland's top seller

SCOTT REID

Motor industry bosses have cheered a further upturn in car sales with UK-wide registrations staging their longest-ever period of growth.

A total of 194,032 new cars were registered in May – a 7.7 per cent hike on the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday.

The increase last month was the 27th consecutive monthly rise – beating the previous record of 26 months of growth between May 1987 and June 1989.

North of the Border, sales rose by an even sharper 15.8 per cent last month to 17,800 vehicles. Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, said: “We believe this is evidence that Scottish consumers are aware we’re coming out of the recession.”

Euan Murray, at Barclays’ Scottish corporate banking arm, added: “Over the summer it will be interesting to see if this holds firm, or whether we will see the growth rate drop down a gear.”